Disco books

[SandraDee]

I thought I would return to a subject that was touched on another thread although it may have been discussed in the past ( slap my wrists if it has!). I've read a few books which are about the 70's/early 80's disco scene such as 'Dancer From The Dance' by Andrew Holleran (which mentions such records as Make Me Believe in You by Patti Jo & Law of the Land by The Temptations), 'The Last Party' by Anthony Haden-Guest, 'Faggots' by Larry Kramer ( this one very tongue-in-cheek so to speak) & of course the very informative 'Saturday Night Forever' co-written by our own lovely Jussi.
Are there any other books, either fictional or factual, that I should read about to broaden my overall disco knowledge?

[ladyboygrimsby]

I wrote a book with Frank Broughton called Last Night A DJ Saved My Life. It's not about disco per se, but it does have two pretty substantial chapters on it, as well as other stuff that would probably be of interest to you.

I can also recommend Mel Cheren's Keep Om Dancin', which is a very evocative account of his life. Plus, there's David Diebold's Tribal Rites, which documents the late 70s/early 80s SF disco scene (it's quite hard to find now). And Albert Goldman's Disco! is just fantastic; ahead of its time, pacily written and highly recommended. Unfortunately, it's long out of print and goes for big money nowadays.

[QUINNY]

Steely: Never forget that a book just gives one person's very narrow perspective. I reckon this forum could tell you more about the scene than any one book.......if only we got to reminisce.

[jazz_pilgrim]

Good thread! I was thinking of posting something similar at some point!!

I have read both Saturday Night Forever and Last Night A DJ Saved my Life. I found them both to be very informative and interesting, but I guess the latter was more relevant as it concentrated more on the Brtish scene. Interested to read that Jimmy Saville is acknowledged to be the first mobile DJ way back in 1946!!!!

Other books I have in my collection:

Black Music Encyclopedia - put out by that venerable black music magazine "Black Echoes" in 1981 this is still an invaluable reference source on black music whch I refer to often.

Nowhere To Run - A History Of Soul Music - Gerry Hirschey. Done in a sort of journalistic style wirth Chapters on various artistes incl. Diana Ross. Excellent read.

Soul on CD. Picked it up in a bargain bookshop - a useful guide to CD soul and funk releases.

[JussiK]

You're a Brit so do seek out old issues of the Black Music magazine. If I can get them here you can get them there.
Many agree that BM contained the finest writing on soul, funk and disco ever published, en par with James Hamilton's equally invaluable but less in depth texts in Record Mirror. The BM stood firmly for the more soulful side of disco of course but did appreciate the early Cerrones too - they rightfully called Cerrone's Paradise a stone killer - and they printed all sorts of interesting charts. There were several disco specials along the way from '75 to '79, and at one point the name of the magazine was converted to include the Disco title as well.

[QUINNY]

Jussik: To be fair James Hamilton's pieces were aimed squarely at DJs and record collectors. Before Black Music there was (and still is?) Blues & Soul magazine that, was just about the most informative publication for years.
To me, books written years after the event can only convey so much. Add to that the fact that I've never read a book from cover to cover in my whole life and I guess you can reliably bask in the knowledge that I won't be seeking any out.

[jazz_pilgrim]

Jussik/Quinny - I was talking about BLACK ECHOES not Record Mirror...But I always used to read James Hamilton's excellent pages in RM as well....

And yes, I happy to say that both BLUES AND SOUL and ECHOES are still going strong after all these years... Amazing!! I still buy them from time to time ....and they are seem to be as good as ever!! :grin:

[SandraDee]

Thanx 4 the info guyz.

[Nano]

I never saw any of those books you mention, nor any other on disco here in my country (hey! I could write one! ). But I can recommend a very good, passionate but also full-detailed book on funk with a couple of chapters on disco and funky-disco. It's called "Funk: The Music, the People, and the Rhythm of the One" and its author, Richey Vincent (or is it Rickey?), apparently had something to do with black radio in the USA at the time. This book came out around 1994 and it's available on Amazon.
Does someone have a reference book called "Soul Music A-Z", with a yellow cover? I saw it in a bookstore and it's tempting, if a bit expensive. Just wanted to know your opinion.

[jazz_pilgrim]

On 2002-09-30 07:47, jazz_pilgrim wrote:

And yes, I happy to say that both BLUES AND SOUL and ECHOES are still going strong after all these years... Amazing!! I still buy them from time to time ....and they are seem to be as good as ever!! :grin:

BTW I was corresponding with Chris Wells, Editor of ECHOES (and Soul24-7.com DJ) only last week, and he told me that he has been working with Warners on releasing a double CD Anthology of Donny Hathaway for release early next year. It will contain around 10 previously unreleased cuts, including five unheard studio sides. Chris told me that one of the tracks is particularly excellent!

Looking forward to that !!